The Last Sacrifice
by x.Taylor.Bieber.x
Summary: *CHAP 8 IS REWRITTEN* Rose was framed for killing Tatiana. Who did it and why? Will Rose be proven guilty and die, or will something else big happen? Who will be the new Queen? *R&R Please :D* ATTENTION: Might be deleting story, it's going nowhere.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, this is my first Vampire Academy fanfic so please be nice :) I guess it's my version of Last Sacrifice, because it's continuing on from Spirit Bound. I hope you guys like it!

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_The paper was tiny, it's elegant cursive almost impossible to read.__  
__Rose,__  
__If you're reading this, then something terrible has happened. You probably hate me, and I don't blame you. I can only ask that you trust that what I did with the age decree was better for your people than what others had planned. There are some Moroi who want to force all dhampirs into service, whether they want it or not, by using compulsion. The age decree has slowed that faction down.__  
__However, I write to you with a secret you must put right, and it is a secret you must share with as few as possible. Vasilisa needs her spot on the Council, and it can be done. She is not the last Dragomir. Another lives, the illegitimate child of Eric Dragomir. I know nothing else, but if you can find this son or daughter, you will give Vasilisa the power she deserves. No matter you are the only one I feel can take on this task. Waste no time in fulfilling it.__  
__—Tatiana Ivashkov_

_I stared at the piece of paper, its writing swirling before me, but its message burning into my mind. _She is not the last Dragomir. Another lives.  
_If that was true, if Lissa had a half brother or half sister...it would change everything. She would get a vote on the Council. She would no longer be alone. _If _it was true. _If_ this was from Tatiana. Anyone could sign her name to a piece of paper. It didn't make it real. Still, I shivered, troubled at the thought of getting a letter from a dead woman. If I allowed myself to see the ghosts around us, would Tatiana be there, restless and vengeful? I couldn't bring myself to let down my walls and look. Not yet. There had to be other answers. Ambrose had given me the note. I needed to ask him...except we were moving down the aisle again. A guardian nudged me along.__  
__"what's that?" asked Abe, always alert and suspicious.__  
__I hastily folded the note back up. "Nothing."__  
__The look he gave me told me he didn't believe that at all. I wondered if I should tell him. _It is a secret you must share with as few as possible. _If he was one of the few, this wasn't the place. I tried to distract him from it and shake the dumbstruck look that must have been on my face. This note was a big problem—but not quite as big as the one immediately facing me.__  
__"You told me I wouldn't go to trial," I said to Abe. My earlier annoyance returned. "I took a big chance with you!"__  
__"It wasn't a big chance. Tarus couldn't have got you out of this either."__  
__Abe's easy attitude about all this infuriated me further.__  
__:Are you saying this hearing was a lost cause from the beginning?" It was what Tomas had said too. How nice to have such faith from everyone. __  
__"This hearing wasn't important," Abe said evasively. "What happens next is."__  
__"And what is that exactly?"__  
__He gave me that dark, sly gaze again. "Nothing you need to worry about yet."__  
__One of the guardians put his hand on my arm, telling me I needed to move. I resisted his pull and leaned toward Abe. __  
__"The hell I don't! This is my life we're talking about," I exclaimed. I knew what would come next. Imprisonment until the trial. And then more imprisonment if I was convicted. "This is serious! I don't want to go to trial! I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a place like Tarasov."__  
__The guard tugged harder, pushing us forward, and Abe fixed me with a piercing gaze that made my blood run cold.__  
__"You will _not_ go to trial. You will _not_ go to prison," he hissed, out of the guards' hearing. "I won't allow it. Do you understand?"__  
__I shook my head, confused over so much and not knowing what to do about any of it. "Even you have your limits, old man."__  
__His smile returned. "You'd be surprised. Besides, they don't even send royal traitors to prison, Rose. Everyone knows that."__  
__I scoffed. "Are you insane? Of course they do. What else do you think they do with traitors? Set them free and tell them not to do it again?"__  
__"No," said Abe, just before he turned away. "They execute traitors."_

I am getting executed. Everyone knows why. I got framed for murdering the queen. Yes, you heard me right, framed for killing the queen. People fear me. Well, more than they used to. All the royals think I'm going to murder them next. The worst possible thing that could happen in the vampire world (apart from Strigoi attacking the royal court and killing every royal, Moroi and dhampirs in sight) happened. Of course, whoever did it framed the only person who called the queen a sanctimonious bitch. All the thing that I had said that day came back to bite me in the ass. Now, I sit here in my dull prison cell facing a wall. I decided to get up off of the bed. The springs in it creaked as my weight lifted off of it. As soon as my two guardians heard the noise they turned around sent me warning glares. _Do not pull any stupid stunts Hathaway _is what the message in their eyes clearly told me. I put my hands up in a surrendering action. "Chill, I'm just stretching my legs." They looked at each other and then eyed me carefully as I walked from wall to wall in my small cell. I walked for a few minutes and then sat back down on my bed. I had become weaker over the past few days due to the lack of food and water they had been giving me. They were doing this to make me weaker, but I was stronger than they thought. Little did they know that I have managed to fight off Strigoi while a little high from their bite. Of course this is a different situation, but still.

"Hathaway has some visitors, shall I send them down?" Tomas appeared in front of my cell and asked one of the guards. I didn't even hear him come down the hall. He looked at me and smiled, and I returned the smile. I had been stripped of my guardian title since the murder, so they just called me Hathaway, traitor or Rose. It sucks. A few minutes later a few soft footsteps sounded, and the only people who actually believed that I didn't kill the queen showed up. Two people that I was extremely surprised to see with my friends were Dimitri, my teacher, and Janine, my mom. I got up and walked over to the bars, and the guardians ordered me back. I went to argue, but Lissa warned me through the bond. _No_. She said. I could hear the slightest bit of compulsion in her warning. I sat back down on my bed and waited for someone to speak. Adrian looked at me longingly, while Dimitri looked at me sorrowfully. The only unusual thing I noticed about Dimitri was that he had his arm wrapped around another female. That female being Tasha. My eyes bugged out of my head, but I quickly recovered. "What are you guys doing here? I didn't think that I was allowed visitors anymore," I said. I was the one who broke the silence, but it just came back after I had spoken. I waited. What was going on? As if they he had heard me, Adrian spoke.  
"Rose, your trial is in two weeks, and your execution is following immediately after it." I choked back a laugh. I didn't want to make it sound like I was guilty. "If I get proven guilty." He sighed.  
"They have made up their mind, even though the trial hasn't happened. They want you dead so they can be safe again. That's all they care about." My mother stiffened at this news, even though it was old. We all knew that this was going to happen, we just didn't expect it to be so soon. Through the bond I sensed a strong pang of darkness from Lissa. She seemed like she was about to explode out of anger. I quickly drew the darkness from her, making me angry. I did my best and tried not to rip open the metal bars blocking my exit. I took several minutes to calm down. Lissa realised that I had drawn the darkness from her mind, so she healed it away from me. It made things worse for her later, but for now it made me seem less crazy.

An hour passed by, where my family and friends spoke about things happening, most of them revolving around me. One topic caught my attention though. A few of the Szelsky's were killed by Strigoi nearby. The best news of all was that the Court finally trusted Dimitri, and it was officially proved that he is dhampirs, so he can now do as he pleases without having guardians constantly following him. The guardians told everyone that it was time to leave. I pleaded to speak with them for longer, but apparently it was time for me to eat. I wasn't even hungry anymore. They left with goodbyes, all except Adrian who wanted to at least hug me before he left. "I'm sorry Mr Ivashkov, but we can't let you come in contact with her, she's still lethal." I laughed. "For God's sake! He's my boyfriend! Why on Earth would I kill him?" Both guardians glared at me. "Can I say goodbye to him? We'll take a minute, I promise." They quietly whispered with each other, then asked Adrian if he was sure.  
"You're risking your life you know." Said the first guard. Adrian chuckled, and they let open my jail door. Adrian got nudged in, and then they shut the door so I couldn't escape. I got up and closed the small distance between us. I kissed him with a force that almost knocked him over.  
"I've missed you Little Dhampir." He murmured in my ear. I hugged him close to me, knowing that this would most-likely be the last time we have physical contact with each other. "I still miss you Adrian. I love you." I kissed him again, this time without the brute force. He responded, moving his mouth lightly with mine. One of the guardians cleared their throat, but we ignored them.  
"Okay, times up. Ivashkov needs to go." I looked up at him and smiled. I barely noticed a stray tear running down my cheek. I knew this would be our last physical encounter. "Goodbye Rose, don't ever forget that I love you. You're the only one for me." I squeezed him tightly. "I love you too Adrian. When-when I'm gone, I'll still be looking after you." He kissed me quickly and then left. I could hear him running down the passage way. Saying goodbye is always the hardest part. The guards pulled me harshly out of the cell and placed handcuffs on me.

As I walked through the Court grounds to a cafe, people stared at me, obviously frightened. Whispers could be heard everywhere. "There's the traitor!" one Moroi said. I just glared at him. Others said ridiculous things like "She's probably plotting to kill us all before she dies." And "I bet you she was behind the Szelsky Strigoi attack." I just held my head high as the guardians pushed me along the path. I had seven with me—it was quite ridiculous. We reached the cafe and one guardian asked me what I wanted. I muttered out a reply and he left to get my food. Five minutes later he came back with a small tray of food. It wasn't even what I had asked for. What a waste of time. I guess I was grateful that I was even getting the opportunity to eat. I finished my meal and stood up. The guardian took the tray inside and then we set off for the Guardian building. After a few minutes we reached it. The guardian at the desk greeted us, the other guardians just nodded a hello. I didn't even acknowledge him. We continued down the hall to my cell. "Here you go. Don't want to hear one word from you tonight." Guardian one warned. Now there were two guarding me again. He shoved me into my cell and locked the door. "Sure, you won't hear one word from me," I said loudly, "you'll hear a million." I grumbled under my breath. I sat down on my bed and went inside Lissa's head.

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I hope you liked it! It's a bit short, but hopefully the next chapter is a little longer. Please review or you'll be waiting a long time for the next chapter :) Oh, and in your review tell me who you prefer: Adrian or Dimitri? Personally? I like Adrian more than Dimka :)  
But I love them both ;) R&R! Also, things will be explained later on—e.g the Szelsky strigoi attack and Dimitri with Tasha.  
Sorry if you can't understand who's talking or anything else—just send me a message with the sentence and ask me what it means if you don't get it :)  
—Taylor


	2. Chapter 2

Well here's the second chapter :) I hope you guys enjoyed the first one. Thanks to the people who reviewed, you guys inspired this chapter :) Here you go!

"I can't believe Amber Szelsky's family got attacked. They didn't deserve it," Lissa cried into Christians should. "Heck, nobody deserves it." Through the bond I could feel that she was frightened. "Christian, I'm worried." He smiled and held her closer to him.  
"Why are you worried?" She just looked at him like the answer was obvious. I already knew what she was going to say. "Isn't it obvious?" she raised her voice. "Rose is getting executed and strigoi have been attacking!" Confusion swept across Christians face. "Are you saying that Rose made the strigoi attack happen?" Lissa huffed.  
"No! I'm worried because I'm going to lose her, and worried because the strigoi might get humans to break through the wards so they can attack us." Christian understood. He pulled her closer to him in a protective way which made her feel better. Just as she rested her head on his chest, there was a light knock on her door. She got up and opened it, not surprised to see Adrian. He smiled sadly as she let him in. He shuffled over to the couch. I didn't want to see him upset like that. I quickly snapped out of her head and came back to my cell. I lay on my bed staring blankly at the roof. After an hour of thought, I decided I should get some sleep. Ever since I have been put in this cell, I've been lacking sleep. I had serious bags under my eyes. I closed my eyes and drifted off into a dream almost immediately. After a while everything shifted and I found myself in one of Adrian's dreams.

I looked around but I couldn't see him. I was still wearing the same clothes that I had on when he visited me earlier. I turned a corner and there he was, leaning against a wall. He hadn't changed either. Only the background shifted. "Hey." I said as I reached him.  
"Hey Little Dhampir," he replied with a small smile. He got off of the wall and started to walk over to me. I hugged him tightly, inhaling his scent. "Mmm I miss you so much," he whispered. He tilted my head up and kissed me softly. His lips were warm and gentle. He pulled away and cuddled me. We walked together and when he stopped he looked into my eyes. I gazed back, noticing that he had bags under his eyes too.  
"Have you been lacking sleep Mr?" I asked. He looked down at his feet.  
"Yeah. I've been worrying. A lot." I sighed. "Oh Adrian," I mumbled into his chest as he swept me into a hug. We stood like that for a few minutes. I ran my fingers through his hair as he pulled back. It wasn't styled as good as usual. He shut his eyes and sighed. "I love you so much Rose. I promise you that I will do everything in my power—though I don't have much anymore—to save you from getting executed." He kissed me again, this one fierce and hungry. It started getting hot, so I pulled away before it turned into anything else.  
"I love you too Adrian." Then I remembered something. "Do you mind filling me in with the details of the strigoi attack?" He nodded and started talking about what I missed out on.  
"There were five people in the family and four guardians—one of them had gone on their holiday. There were eight strigoi that attacked. Of course, they had wards surrounding their house, so humans had to break them in order for the strigoi to enter. It was said that this all happened around two a.m." He shook his head.  
"Do you know which Szelsky family it was?" He nodded. "Do you remember Amber? She went to St Vladimir's. She decided to go home to her family instead of coming to the Court after graduation." I kept quiet. Amber was a kind girl. Lissa was right about which family it was.

We talked for most of them dream. "I should go now; you'll be waking up in ten minutes for breakfast. I'll come visit you later on okay?" I didn't want him to go. I wanted to stay in this dream forever. "Okay, I better let you go too." We hugged, and he—yet again—managed to surprise me with a kiss. It was quick but romantic.

We said out goodbyes and I returned to my normal dreams, only to be woken ten minutes later.  
"Hathaway, up!" one of the guardians yelled. I haven't even bothered to learn their names—I don't want to know them. I groaned and got up. I walked into my bathroom and got changed into something clean. I brushed my hair and teeth and came out, only to face my two impatient guardians. They opened the door and cuffed my hands again. I got pushed along the hallway and out to the guardians café. They didn't even ask me what I wanted today; they just went in and ordered my food. Minutes later he came out and we walked back to my jail. He undid my cuffs, gave me my food and locked me back in my cell. I savoured my food, and when I was done I threw the food wrapper on the ground and sat on my bed. There was nothing at all to do in here. I decided once again to go into Lissa's head; that's where I've spent most of my time while I've been trapped in here. If she found out, she'd probably get upset. My world faded out as I entered her mind. She was at a café with Mia. "So did you guys actually break Victor out of jail?" Mia asked. Shit. How did she find out?  
"Yeah, releasing him saved Dimitri, but he's still roaming free somewhere in the world with his brother, so Spirit users are in trouble because all he wants them to do is heal him. I wouldn't be surprised if his brother has died from Victor using him," Lissa said nonchalantly, "I mean that's the whole reason he was put in jail, for using me." Mia just shook her head. Footsteps sounded from behind Lissa, so she turned and saw Dimitri and Tasha strolling towards them. "Hey you two, what's up?" Liss asked.  
"We were actually coming here to find you guys. They've found someone that was with you when you guys came looking for me." My mind blew up. Victor has been found. He's going to tell people that we broke him out of jail. I'll get into trouble for more things and my execution date will move forward. Lissa started choking on her drink. When she recovered, she looked shocked.  
"W-what? Who did they find?" she whispered. Dimitri's face saddened a little.  
"The found Robert Doru dead." Well then. I stopped freaking out, and so did Lissa, even though it was still horrible news.  
"Do you know why? If strigoi did it?" Lissa asked, clearly concerned. Dimitri shook his head.  
"No, his blood hasn't been drained, and he has no bite marks on him anywhere. The pictures I saw of him looked just like you did when Victor Dashkov used your Spirit. We think someone used him for his power." Lissa and I both shared a horrified look. Of course he wouldn't say out loud that it was Victor, because people would be horrified and would know. He leant down towards Lissa and whispered in her ear. "Victor did it. People are working on getting him back in prison, but no one can find him. I know that you and Rose set him free." His voice sent shivers down my spine. I withdrew myself from her mind, horrified at the news. Surely he hadn't meant to kill his brother.

I walked in my confined cell, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Surely this was going to drive me insane. Maybe that was what they wanted to happen to me. I spent a few ours walking and sitting on my bed, and then the guards brought me lunch. Now they were letting me out of my cell. I devoured my food and lay down again. I must have drifted to sleep because a few hours later I heard the guards telling someone that I am asleep so my visitors can't come down today. I bolted up out of bed. "I'm awake, I can have my visitors." I told them. The second guard muttered something about good senses. Seconds later Lissa, Adrian and Dimitri came down.  
"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked as they reached my cell. Dimitri turned to the guardians. I could just hear what he was saying.  
"Can you guys give us a little privacy?" They shook their heads. "Come on, I used to be a guardian until...please? We won't take long, and the royals will be safe. You can at least stand at the end of the other cell." The discussed it and moved out of my sight, probably in front of the other cell. My three friends stood at the door. Lissa broke the news to me, even though I already knew it.  
"Robert is dead." I didn't want to tell her that I knew, so I just listened to the details. They had found out more about his death as well, so some of it was new to me.  
"Have they found Victor yet?" I asked.  
"No. They don't even know that it's him." Dimitri told me. I didn't know what to say. This was tragic. Dimitri had to go meet up with Tasha, so he left with a plain goodbye. If I didn't know better I'd say that they are together. "You look malnourished Rose." Lissa told me.  
"I've been eating as much as I can get." She beckoned me forward to the cage bars. As I reached her I felt the wonderful buzz of magic through the bond. She was making me better. We spoke about the whole Victor thing for a while—Lissa was truly worried. She had to go meet Christian for dinner so I was left with Adrian, who I noticed hadn't spoken throughout the whole visit. "What's wrong?" I asked him as I moved towards him. He shook his head.  
"Because of the attack, they're moving your dates forward because they think you somehow had something to do with it." My eyes widened.  
"I beg your pardon? They're moving my date forward? If there is anyone to point fingers at for 'causing' the attack, they should point their fingers at the ex-strigoi!" I didn't even realise what I had said until he chuckled. "It's true! I wasn't strigoi, he was. I know he has been good to me—sort of, but they should be jumping on _him_." I know that sounded selfish, but seriously? I've never been strigoi, and I have to communication to anyone outside unless they visit me. Adrian stayed and spoke with me for a while. The two guardians decided to keep their distance because of what we were talking about.  
"Well Little Dhampir, it was a pleasure talking to you tonight, but I have to go because your guardians are getting impatient and want to give you your food. As I see, they don't let you out anymore," he grinned. I just scowled. "I'll visit you tonight baby." He whispered and attempted to hug me through the bars. I didn't bother to ask if I could go out and hug him, because they would only bound my hands together and make it impossible to do so. He pulled my hand through a gap in the bars and kissed the back of my hand. "I love you Rosie Posie. Goodnight."  
"Goodnight...I have no nickname for you." We laughed. "Love you Adrian." He walked away, his head low. My guards brought my food and then went back to their original post.  
"Do you think I had something to do with that strigoi attack?" I asked them. They looked at me like it was _so_ obvious.  
"We don't think you did, we think ex-strigoi did. Even though it's be proven that he's Dhampir, he could still be dangerous." I laughed. "That's what I said, even though he's my old trainer. People think that everyone that gets killed is caused by me." They looked at me, and then I realised. "I didn't kill her majesty, you know."  
"Of course you did, there's a whole bunch of evidence to prove so." I rolled my eyes.  
"Someone broke into my room when I fell asleep. I was crying because Dimitri told me that he didn't love me anymore. My stake was in my pocket, as always, but when I awoke, it was gone. I just presumed that I had dropped it. That's when Adrian came." The guards looked at me if I was crazy.  
"Hathaway, you don't need to lie to us about it. We know what you did." A little outburst of anger took over me, making me look bad.  
"Look, why would I kill the queen? We were becoming friends, and then someone murdered her and framed me!" They just turned their backs to me and started talking about other things. I growled in frustration and plonked down on my bed. For the first time since I was imprisoned, I cried myself to sleep.

As promised, Adrian visited me in my sleep. This time he dressed us up and placed us in a classy restaurant. I walked over to the table and sat down. "Little Dhampir." He nodded. I had finally come up with a nickname for him. It was ridiculous, but it was all I could think of. "Big Moroi." I giggled. He just looked at me and laughed. "Ridiculous, I know." Then the scene changed. We were back at the academy in his old room. Our clothes had changed again. I sat down on the couch and he followed. I cuddled up to him while he kissed my head. "Is there something going on between Tasha and Dimitri?" I suddenly blurted out. He froze.  
"Yeah, why?" He looked like something bad was going to happen.  
"Oh, just wondering. You know he said to me that he'll never be able to love anyone again? Then he threw a few more hurtful words my way. He said _'Love fades. Mine has.'_ That's why I said the harsh things I said today. I argued with my guards after you left too." Relief flooded his face. He thought that I was jealous. Well, the truth was that I was, but I did what he said happened to me. I let the love for him fade. We spent the entire dream cuddling together and being a romantic couple, which is something I can't have anymore.  
"As much as I want to spend forever with you in this dream where everything is perfect, you need to go. I'll be there in an hour." Adrian told me. That's when I remembered that it was now Sunday, and I got to have visitors all day. I tilted my head up and kissed him passionately, and then the dream vanished. I woke up to a noisy jail. Guardians were buzzing around everywhere. I called out numerous times, but no one responded. Finally Tomas came down and told me to get dressed.  
"Why? What's happening?" he just told me to go. I got changed and he explained to me what was going on as my hands became bounded with cuffs.  
"You're getting released but with heavy guard. They still think you're guilty, but they have found other evidence that is not related to you." Inside of me I went wild. There was a chance that they will find out whoever did this.  
"Does this mean that I have a chance?" He nodded. "A small chance, but this could change everything. You're getting another hearing today for the new evidence, and in case you can remember anything else. Adrian will also be questioned." When we exited the building, Adrian saw me and rushed over to me. He was full of happiness and the bags under his eyes were gone. He was full of hope as well. Together we walked silently towards the room where I had my first hearing.

I hope you guys liked it. It was a little longer than the last chapter. Like I said, thank you to those who gave me reviews. I have a lot in store for you, but I've got to spread it out, or else the story will be short and quick, which is not good. Hope you enjoyed it!  
—Taylor


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry I took so long guys, I haven't been on in a while. I'll give you two chapters tonight.  
Here's chapter 3 :) Thanks for the reviews again my pretties ;) Let's get this show on the road!

We were standing outside of the room that I had my first hearing in. "Adrian, I love you." I told him with a kiss on the cheek. I let the guardians take me inside to my stand. I sat there patiently while waiting for the court to come into order. Ten minutes later when everyone was settled and Abe, my dad and lawyer, had arrived, the second hearing started. I was being asked the same questions as last time, just to make sure that I didn't lie the first time. Of course, my story was straight. Then they got on with the new evidence.  
"The guardians who were guarding the queen on the night of her murder do not remember anyone entering. This must mean that you had a Moroi with you—if you killed the queen. Yet you say you were alone until Mr Ivashkov visited your room." Iris said. I nodded. Then Abe spoke.  
"By my understanding, Rose didn't have contact with any of her Moroi friends until Mr Ivashkov visited, so how could she have had company with her if she killed the queen?" The neither Iris nor the judge answered. Instead, they moved onto the next case of evidence.

"Secondly, we have heard from some of your guards that you claimed someone framed you. Could you elaborate on that? Tell us what exactly you told them?" I cleared my throat and spoke clearly.  
"I told my guardians last night that someone must have broken into my room when I fell asleep. I remember the whole reason why I fell asleep, but I will not humiliate that person in front of all these people. He already knows who he is," I pointed a sharp glare towards Dimitri, who looked sad, but tried not to notice. "My stake was in my coat pocket, and when Adrian knocked on my door, my stake was gone. I just guessed that it had fallen out of my pocket when I ran to my room, or when I collapsed on my bed." I took a quick pause, and then continued on with my story. "I think—I don't _know_ if this is right, but I _think_ that someone may have broken into my room and stolen the stake from me so they could use it to frame me. Of course, as other evidence "proved", the stake had my fingerprints all over it. That doesn't mean anything. Whoever stole it obviously wore gloves so there would be no trace of anything to catch them out." I looked out into the crowd of spectators and found Lissa's face. She smiled grim smile, as did all of the people who actually believed me. We all knew that they would prove me guilty. Whoever did this was smart. I got questioned a little more, and then it was Adrian's turn. He didn't get hammered with questions at all.  
"Are you sure you were in Miss Hathaway's room the whole night? It is possible that you compelled the only witness into thinking that you did." Adrian chuckled quietly.  
"I most definitely spent the whole night in her room. If you don't believe me, you can ask her. I'm sure she'll tell you how much of a good time we had." This caused snickers and giggles, and well as disgusted looks from the audience. The room was hushed, and he was questioned further. They were ridiculous questions actually; things that I didn't think needed to be asked. But if it's what they had to find out, I guess they needed to ask it. Finally the hearing was finished and the room was dismissed.

"We will get through this. Your trial is in a week now, and I can ensure you that I can get you proven innocent." Abe promised me. I rolled my eyes. "Look, old man, you have a lot of power over Moroi and Dhampir, but even you have to admit that you don't have enough power to get me proven innocent. They're still going to kill me." He sighed, knowing that he couldn't get it into my head that everything was going to be okay; I knew it wasn't going to be alright at all. I walked to my empty room, happy to be back in the comfort of it. I opened the door and sat on my bed. Of course I had about five guardians surrounding my door. The guardians in my building were doubled, just to make sure I didn't try to escape or anything. Really, it was quite ridiculous. If I was going to escape, it would have happened by now. I had no reason to run away, I haven't done anything. Before long, my stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't had breakfast yet. I left my room, the stupid guardians following me, and went to the café that I sensed Lissa was at through the bond. As I arrived, she looked up and smiled.  
"Hey, haven't seen you in a while. You look healthy for once; did Adrian heal you?" I nodded. She stood up and hugged me as hard as she could. The guardians stiffened, but didn't do anything. I went inside and ordered a coffee and sandwich. I sat outside with Lissa, and that's when our gossip session began. We hadn't spoken like this in a long time; it was probably the first time we had actually had a good talk with each other since we came back to the Academy when I met Dimitri. I couldn't help but notice that every single person that happened to walk past stared at me like I was a monster. I ignored t hem, continuing my conversation with Liss. One thing came to my mind—a very important piece of information. Should I tell Lissa about her half brother or sister? Would Tatiana have wanted me to tell Lissa? Or should I follow her advice and tell as few people—not including Lissa? I was stuck, and Lissa had noticed my lack in conversation.  
"Rose, what's up? I can tell something's not right; your aura is all over the place. Talk to me." I hesitated for a minute, and then decided to hold it off for a little longer. I guess it could wait.  
"Nothing, I'm just freaking out about my trial. Even though I know what's coming for me, I can't help but panic. This is so unlike me, isn't it?" I asked. She nodded and laughed. "It's all going to be okay. I know it is."  
"You give me hope Liss, you know that?" We both laughed. After our nice little talk together, we went our ways. Just as I was about to enter my building, Dimitri found me. I didn't really want to talk to him; after all, he did say that he never wanted to see me again.  
"Roza, can I speak with you for a minute?" He slipped up, using his old nickname for me. I walked over to him impatiently. I didn't want to see him, especially after what he had said to me. My guardians kept their distance when I asked them to, but they still kept a close eye on us.  
"What do you want Dimitri?" I said sharply. "You didn't want to see me, and now suddenly you're speaking to me? I can't keep up with you anymore!" I sighed, frustrated. He looked me in the eyes, and then all the times we had spent together flashed through my mind again.  
"Rose, all those things I said to you that day, how I didn't love you anymore; that was a cover. I didn't want you to see what I really felt. I still cannot forgive myself for what I did to you. I'm surprised that I have even been able to move on. Please, Rose, please can you forgive me for all that was said, and all that was done?" I thought for a minute. He could be valuable to me when it came to finding Lissa's half-sibling. I decided that I could accept his apology.  
"Yes Dimitri, I guess I can forgive you, but so you know; those last things you said to me, they have stuck in my mind." He looked sorry. I stepped closer to him and hugged him. It was extremely comforting, and I could have stood there forever with him, but I pulled away. I considered telling him the information about Lissa, but if she noticed that something was up with him, he'd surely tell her. After all, he did tell her that he'd do anything for her.  
"Well I need to go, but I will talk to you later." He turned and walked off, leaving me with my guardians.

I walked up to my room and lay on my bed. I was going to do some serious sleeping. Before I could even shut my eyes, there was a knock on my door. I grumbled and got up, only to see Adrian. I attacked him with a kiss, and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind him. "I missed you incredibly." He whispered as we fell on my bed. We continued kissing, barely pausing to catch our breath. "I missed you more though." I felt him smile. I ran a hand through his brown hair which was styled in its usual way. "I found out some information on Lissa." I blurted out. He pulled away, raising an eyebrow. "Go on." He said. I burst into my story. "Ambrose, a guy who was ah...friends with the queen handed me a note," I pulled the note out of my jacket; surprised to see it was still in there. I passed it to him to read. His face was full of shock when he finished. "I need to find this sibling. Lissa would finally have the power she deserved. If only we could find the illegitimate child." We spoke a little more about it. He swore not to say a word about it to anyone. So far, he was the only person to know, apart from me and the queen, who was unfortunately dead.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Adrian asked.  
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Should I tell Lissa?" He looked thoughtful for a minute.  
"Didn't Tatiana tell you to tell as few as possible? I don't know. It would be valuable information to her, but I don't know if she should know yet." We didn't speak about it after that. Instead, we spent majority of our time making up for all the kissing we missed. It seemed pathetic, but I really did miss all of this—all of the romantic things that Adrian could give. I still remember clearly the time that he took me to Rome in one of our dreams.  
"This seems like one of our dreams again. Exactly what I'm about to say is what I say at the end of all of our recent dreams." I rolled my eyes; knowing what he was going to say. I mimicked him poorly, saying what I knew he would say.  
"I'd love to spend forever with you, starting from now, but I need to go. I'll visit you later." He chuckled and got up. I said goodbye to him and kissed him, and then he left. I had time to myself now. Time to think. I didn't want to think right now; especially with what I knew about Lissa. I just couldn't make up my mind. What was I to do? That wasn't my biggest problem though. My trial was coming up, and then probably following was my execution. Yippee. I lie down on my bed and shut my eyes, this time actually achieving sleep without being interrupted. I dreamt about my execution, how I told Lissa the information right before I was killed. It was quite an extreme dream. I woke up panting, covered in sweat. The strange thing about me waking up wasn't that the dream had frightened me, but Lissa had woken me through the bond. She wasn't in her room. I immediately went into her mind to see where she was. She was still in the Court grounds, but she was in a part of the Court that I didn't recognise. I pulled on some pants and a jacket and sought after a Guardian, knocking mine out of the way. They chased me, but in the end I found Dimitri. I knocked on his door and a minute later he opened it.  
"Yes Rose?" he asked me, clearly bothered that I woke him up.  
"Lissa's woke me up through the bond, but I don't know what's wrong, and I don't know what part of the Court she's in. Can you help me?" It was a wonder that he had even understood me. He pulled on a shirt and a jacket and came with me. He told my guards to relax, and all of them except one went back after a little persuading. I used the bond to guide us roughly to where she was. She was panicking, which made it worse. Finally we found her curled up in an empty building. As I ran towards her, I noticed blood on her wrists. I slowed down, planning to approach her softly, when about a foot away I was rebounded, like there was an invisible wall stopping me from getting to her. I tried again and the same thing happened.  
"Stay away." She told me in a harsh voice. I told Dimitri to try, and the same thing happened to him.  
"Lissa, we're trying to help you, what's wrong?" She groaned.  
"Go away." She growled.  
"No Liss, I'm trying to—"  
"Go!" She screamed. I jumped and took a few steps back. Guilt washed through the bond.  
"Okay then Lissa; if that is what you want...Bye." I said sadly. She didn't want me there, so I'd go. All I wanted was to help her, but she had to be difficult. I walked back to my room with my head held low.  
"Thanks for coming with me." I told Dimitri as we separated. I opened my door and plonked down on my bed. I screamed into my pillow to release my anger. Slowly I fell asleep.

"Hello Little Dhampir, what's wrong?" Adrian asked as we waltzed happily towards my bed. I sniffled and got up.  
"Lissa." He walked over and wrapped his arms around me.  
"It'll be okay Rose. I don't know what's wrong with her yet, but whatever it is will be alright." I shrugged.  
"That's the thing; I don't know what's wrong either. She started cutting herself again. When I went to help it was like there was a force field surrounding her. She screamed at me to leave. Lissa would never do that." He rubbed my back and then pulled away a little to look me in the eye.  
"Rose, she'll be okay. As soon as you fell asleep I sensed something was wrong. Oh, and I know what kept you away from her." I pulled further away.  
"It's something to do with her Spirit powers right?" He nodded.  
"She's actually going crazy. I'll have to help her when we wake up. She won't die or anything, she's just at a stage in her Spiritual development where certain powers just explode from her." My mouth had dropped and my eyes probably popped out.  
"Shouldn't we help her now? What if she bleeds to death?" He chuckled.  
"Don't freak Little Dhampir. One, I said she won't die, and two, she'll heal herself, so the cutting won't damage her."  
"Is that even possible?" He nodded.  
"Watch." He walked into my bathroom and came back out with a razor. He cut his wrist with it and we both winced. He dropped the razor in the bin and then beckoned me over. He gently touched around the slit with his other hand, and before I knew it, the cut had turned into a small scar.  
"So is that what she'll do to herself, heal it all and create more darkness for me to take?" More darkness for me to take. That was it. "I know how I can help!"  
"Don't try Rose."  
"No, I'm serious. I can take the darkness away from her!" He shook his head.  
"If you must Rose." He said, and then swept me up in a bridal fashion. "But first I want to spend some time with you." My mood immediately changed and I laughed. He ducked his head a kissed me. He suddenly dropped me onto my bed. I let out a small scream as he jumped on the bed. We both laughed. I pushed him back and kissed him. He was always careful to keep his fangs away. I don't know how he did it. He turned me onto my back and straddled me.  
"I love you." He said with a wink. He brushed his lips against my neck, and for a second I thought he was going to bite me. He moved up under my chin and kissed there, and then his lips crept up to my mouth. We kissed for a while, and then I was ripped out of my dream by Lissa again. This time she was in my mind though.

_Rose, come find me, I need you NOW._ She said fiercely. I bolted out of my bed and ran out the door again. This time two of my guardians followed. I knew where to find her this time. I ran all the way to her room and knocked on the door. It opened and she dragged me in.  
"I'm sorry about before." She said. I've never seen her angry like this before.  
"It's alright Liss; Adrian explained to me what was happen—"  
"Why didn't you tell me?" She suddenly burst out.  
"Tell you what?" Shit. I bet the minimal amount of money I owned that she could a) see in my mind and b) she knew about the note Tatiana gave me.  
"Oh, you know perfectly well Rose. You can't hide things from me anymore. I have an insight into your mind now too. The bond works two ways. Why didn't you tell me that my dad had another child? I could be saving your ass now if I was on the Council!" I flinched as she threw a shoe at the wall. I was right about the two things. She knew everything.  
"Calm down Lissa, I didn't know when to tell you. Tatiana told me to tell as few as possible, and I was planning on telling you soon. I really was." She looked away. "Liss, look at me. I am really sorry." I reached out to touch her arm and she pulled it away from me.  
"What has happened Rose? What has happened to our old ways where we used to tell each other everything? Can you not trust me anymore?" She had a point. I never told her about Dimitri, when I left to kill him, and I never told her this until she found it out for herself. What had I done?  
"I don't know Lissa, I'm sorry. I can make things go back to the way they used to be. You know, it does take two to make a friendship work. You don't tell me much anymore." I said, my head hanging low for the second time tonight.  
"No Rose, it's all gone now. You can't turn back time." I felt darkness course through the bond. It was really strong and I panicked. I sucked out as much as I could, but I couldn't get rid of it all. As the darkness consumed me, I got up.  
"Goodbye Vasilisa." I said in a monotone. Her face contorted in pain.  
"I'm sorry too Rose." I snapped, all thanks to the stupid darkness.  
"I don't give a fuck anymore Lissa! It's done. We can't change it anymore," by now I was yelling and the guards opened the door.  
"Is everything alright Vasilisa?" one of them asked.  
"Yes, we're just having an argument, please stay outside." She compelled them. "Well Rose, at least I know."  
"Yeah, you do." I said curtly, looking away from her. I walked towards the door and then she grabbed my arm.  
"Rose, I'm sorry," She begged, "I didn't mean some of those things." Some. Whatever Lissa.  
"Sure sure Lissa. You can't take back what you said. What I said in reply to them, I meant it. All of it. Goodnight." I yanked open the door and she let go of my arm. She just collapsed onto the ground and sobbed. I shut it and then went back to my room. I slammed the door shut once I was inside. I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now. I suddenly felt nauseous, and this time it wasn't caused by Strigoi.

There you have it. Sorry I took so long to get it up; I have tonsillitis and my dad is in hospital. You'd think that being sick would get me to spend more time on the computer, but instead I was bed-ridden because I came down with a cold at the same time. How sucky? Well at least you got it. Working on the next chapter now. Should have it up soon.  
Don't forget to review :)  
—Taylor

—Re-edit!— I had tonsillitis and my dad was in hospital, bit its all good now. Sorry I took forever to get it up. To make it up to you, I'm uploading two chapters tonight :) Thanks for reviewing!


	4. Chapter 4

I hope you enjoyed Chapter 3. One big friendship fell apart all because of secrets. The future will crumble as one big secret gets unleashed. Chaos will course through the Court. But for now? Lissa and Rose are mad at each other, and that's all that matters. This can be fixed, and we all know it. Read on and don't forget to review! Oh, and Lissa is extremely out of character. Just thought I'd warn you.

I crouched over the toilet bowl as I violently threw up. What had happened between us? I felt horrible. Was it because of the darkness or is this the after burn of our argument? Quite frankly I didn't care; I just wanted it to end. Once I thought that the throwing up had stopped, I grabbed my towel and wiped off my mouth. I got up, my legs numb from being still for so long. I cupped my hands over the tap and drank some water to get rid of the horrid taste. Through the bond, I could feel Lissa was still crying. She was curled up on her bed. I found my earphones and plugged them in to my iPod. I turned the volume up and lay down on my bed.  
_Maybe, if my heart stops beating, it won't hurt this much..._ The first song said as it came on. The whole song described what I felt. What was it called again? I racked through my brain, and as the lyrics sounded in the song, I remembered. Never let this go. It was a Paramore song that I hadn't heard in a long time. I hadn't used my music player since we came back to the Academy. I browsed through all of my music and found something that strangely made me feel better. Stupid heavy metal screamo music. Finally I had had enough of it, so I flicked it off and put it away. I sat up and stared at the wall. I had nothing to do. I couldn't sleep. There was still quite a few hours left until people would start waking up. Until then, I was bound in my room. I sighed as I got up to make myself some coffee. I found the chocolate biscuits in my half empty pantry and sat down in front of the TV. I flicked through most of the channels until I found an old movie. It was in black or white, and it sucked. It was better than watching infomercials I guess. Four coffees and a whole packet of chocolate biscuits later, the movie had ended, and there was officially nothing on television. Shame I didn't own any DVD's. I had videos of the times I had with Lissa, but I wasn't really in the mood to watch them. I stared blankly at the TV as it blasted another infomercial. I thought about visiting Lissa's mind, but instantly decided not to. Finally, there was a decent show on. I watched Seinfeld reruns for a few hours and finally it was getting dark outside. I got up and peeked outside my window. There were a few Moroi and Dhampir making their quietly through the court. I looked down towards the door and there was my Moroi boyfriend. I went to the door and as soon as I heard him approach I opened it. He came in and shut the door. He saw the tear stains on my face and probably smelt the stink of vomit.  
"What happened?" he asked. I went through the whole story and he listened carefully.  
"So we're fighting now and I regret what I said, even after I told her I didn't." He snaked his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close.  
"It'll all turn out. I promise. What did you want to do today?" he asked, trying to lift my mood. I shook my head.  
"Is dying an option?" his eyebrows creased.  
"If you tried I'd stop you." He said with a wink, making me smile.  
"Oh Adrian." I whispered. He hugged me tightly and then let me go.  
"I'm sorry Little Dhampir, but duty calls. I need to go." I arched an eyebrow.  
"What duty?" he chuckled.  
"None, but I need to go. I have some talking to do with your father." He wiggled his eyebrows and I laughed.  
"Okay, but you need to come back later. If you don't find me here, I'll either be fighting with Lissa, in the Library or talking with some friends somewhere. You'll find me." I got up, helping him up as well. "See you later." I kissed him and he pulled away, leaving me wanting him more.  
"Bye Rose." He gave me a quick squeeze and then left. What to do now? I got dressed into some jeans and a red spaghetti strap top. I found my silver shoes and grabbed my iPod and left for the Library. The warm spring air felt good against my skin as I exited the building.

I walked in the general direction of the Library, my guards in tow, and was stopped by Mia.  
"I need to talk to you about Lissa," she said worriedly, "it's important." I didn't mean to snap, but unfortunately I did.  
"If it's about her, I don't care anymore. Especially not after what happened last night." She looked shocked.  
"What happened? You two were like sisters! It'll all be fine, kiss and make up...well not kiss, but you know." I told her what happened, skipping the siblings' part.  
"The bond works both ways now?" Dimitri said from behind me.  
"Oh, hey, didn't see you there." I said.  
"Well I need to go, but I'm sure it'll all work out." Mia said, and with a quick hug she left.  
"Yeah, unfortunately the bond does. I wish we never had a bond. I hate her." Hate was a strong word, but I didn't give a shit at that moment.  
"What's happened now Roza?" He asked. I told him the same story as Mia, except I included the siblings' part.  
"Shocking stuff, isn't it?" I said.  
"I can help you guys find him or her. Who else knows?" I shook my head.  
"Tatiana, whom last time I checked was dead, Adrian, Lissa, me, and now you." He sighed.  
"Well, when you guys are ready to go find the person, tell me." I laughed humourlessly.  
"Who ever said I was going to help? You can help her, I mean, you owe her, but I'm not helping." His jaw dropped.  
"She could save you!" he exclaimed.  
"I don't think anyone can save me. They're going to assume I'm guilty, and whoever framed me is going to be happy. I'll get executed and everyone will be happy that Rose Hathaway is gone from their lives. He scoffed.  
"Don't think like that Rose. It's going to be okay." I groaned. He gripped my shoulders and looked me in the eye. "I'll make sure of it." He kissed my cheek and left. I wandered to the Library and searched for something to read. I couldn't find anything interesting, so I picked up a random book. I sat down and looked at the cover. 'Spirit: Powers and Effects' was the title. Why couldn't we find a book like this at the library back at St. Vladimir's? I read through it, forgetting to put my iPod on. It explained a lot about the powers of Spirit. I was stunned with half of the things that I had read. Then I got to the part about effects.  
"If you are a Spirit user with a bond, you should be careful with the amount of magic you use as you're bond mate will suck the darkness caused from the use of magic away from you. This will lead to them going crazy, making you go crazy as well."  
We already knew that. It elaborated on that though.  
"Certain uses will create more darkness. When the darkness is taken away, it causes the bond mate to get incredibly angry, unless you heal the darkness away from them. This just creates more darkness; it's an endless cycle."  
I finished reading the book and took it up to the desk.  
"Can I borrow this?" I asked the old Moroi behind the desk.  
"Honey, that book has been in here for years and nobody has borrowed it. Keep it." Bonus. I left the library and headed for my room. I put the book on my desk and made something to eat. As I sat down and ate, there was a knock on my door. I got up and opened the door, only to see Christian. A very angry Christian.  
"Hey, what's up?" I said, as if I didn't notice he was angry. He came in and shut the door.  
"Don't 'Hey' me. Why did you say that stuff to Lissa?" He looked like he could throw fire any minute.  
"Hey! She said things to me too you know, she's not all angelic and innocent."  
"Neither are you." He said matter of factly. I knew what he meant, even though he believed I didn't kill Tatiana.  
"Don't go like that on me Christian. Did she send you here?" I asked sharply  
"No, I heard the story and decided that I needed to straighten it out."  
"Well coming over here and assuming that only I said stuff. You haven't even heard my story."  
"Don't have to. Well, I'm still waiting for an answer to my first question." I shrugged.  
"Like I said, she said shit too. I simply said it because I consumed her darkness. I don't regret it either. Now if that's all you wanted, I'll see you off now." I smugly smiled. He got up and left without another word. I cleaned up my uneaten food; I had lost my appetite. There was another knock on my door as I washed up.

I opened it to Dimitri. "Hey, come in." He came in and stood just inside the door.  
"I can't stay long; I just wanted to ask if you and Lissa had made up yet." I laughed.  
"Made up yet? That's probably not going to happen for a long time." He just shook his head.  
"You should go talk to her, even if it's not today."  
"Okay Comrade. Well I have to go somewhere, so I'll talk to you tonight." I smiled and we both left my room. As we parted, I turned a corner and walked into Adrian.  
"Little Dhampir, I was just coming to see you." He wrapped an arm around me as we walked back to my room.  
"That's funny, because I was just coming to find you." My guardians took their usual stand outside of my door as we went in. Adrian and I spent the day together on the couch, just like we always did. So many things were playing on my mind at the moment. I couldn't help but wonder why I had been released from my cell. Surly they would have kept me in there until I was executed. Something fishy was going on, and I was going to find out. Lissa must have sent Christian to come and talk to me. I hadn't heard a squeak out of her through the bond. She must be numbing it up with alcohol. Silly girl. Some part of me felt horrible for what happened between us, but everything happens for a reason. Some good will come out of this…I hope. That night I went to sleep wondering when the next time Lissa and I would have an encounter. I knew I had spoken too soon when I thought about it, because there was a sharp knock on my door. I groaned and got up off of my bed.  
"Hello?" I asked groggily.  
"Hello Rose. I'd like to talk to you about the other night." A ghastly looking Lissa said. There were so many off things about her. She had little cuts all over her wrists, she had dark bags under her eyes and her eyes were bloodshot, and she was sickly pale as well. Not to mention she looked high and drunk—which she probably was. I let her come in and she stood near my couch.  
"I am here to apologise for all the things that were said the other night. I didn't mean it." There was a long, awkward silence after that.  
"I hate to break it to you, but I'm not sorry. Things happen for a reason Liss; I'm not taking back what I said because I know something will come out of this. I accept your apology, but I know something is bound to happen. Oh, and you look horrible by the way." She grumbled.  
"Yeah well I've got some pretty cool friends who are helping me out with my problems." She named them and I knew my face reflected horror.  
"You're hanging out with the junkies?" she nodded. I felt like I had been bitch-slapped. This was not the Lissa I knew at all. "What's happened to you Lissa? You used to be a role model, the perfect kid, and now you're the complete opposite! What's going on?"  
"I don't give a shit about what people think of me!" She snapped. "I don't live to please them."  
"Actually you do." I jumped in. She just scowled at me. I let her go after that, not wanting to even know her anymore. She had changed a lot. It was quite scary. I knew we needed to find help for her, and fast. I left my room, with the usual army of guardians following me. I knocked on Adrian's door and was welcomed inside with a shower of kisses.  
"Hello beautiful, what's up?" I explained to him about Lissa.  
"It can't be a Spiritual Development stage or whatever you said! She's gone berserk! There's no trace of the normal Lissa in her anymore." I said panicked. I was worried about her. We discussed her a little more and then we talked about her unknown sibling and decided to do some investigating. It was past eleven pm now so I went back to my room and got some sleep. I awoke to sharp knocking on my door. I opened it to find no one. Hmmm, strange. I went back to bed but couldn't sleep. I decided to begin my day and went for a shower. Halfway through I heard knocking on my door and Tasha calling my name. I was _so_ not in the mood to talk to her and her cheeriness right now.  
"Hang on a second!" I called as I turned the shower off. I dried myself and got changed in a hurry, not caring that my shirt was inside out.  
"Hey Rose, I came to talk to you about Lissa." Her voice sounded sad.  
"Yeah, what's up?"  
"She's in the emergency room." She said grimly.  
"What's wrong with her now? Drug overdose?" Tasha just looked at me disapprovingly.  
"Not only that, but she has lost a huge amount of blood. It's pretty hectic. She's seriously stuffed up. I was thinking that maybe after you turn your shirt the right way around, we could go and pay her a visit." She said kindly. I accepted and fixed myself up. We spent the entire day at Lissa's unstable side. Her wrists were bandaged up and she was under morphine.  
"Hello Rose." A voice said from behind me just as a hand was gingerly placed on my shoulder. I recognised the voice instantly and began to freak. _Oh hell no!_ I thought. _There's no bloody way that he is here right now._ Tasha's eyes lit up in a horrific way as she turned to look at the man behind me. I turned and looked into the face of the monster that I had freed from Tarasov.  
"What in the hell are you doing here?" I gasped.

I shouldn't have left you guys hanging there considering that I have just uploaded chapter 3 and 4 tonight. You guys deserve better, but I can't help it. I had to do it :) Chapter 5 will be up ASAP. I've had a little mind-block lately, but I'm getting better. I might have another story up soon, but I don't know. I don't want too many unfinished stories up at the moment. If you guys have any ideas, feel free to let me know. I'll give you credit for it! Lol joking, you don't have to tell me anything, but it'd be nice to hear what you readers out there would like to see in my story. Well review away my pretties. Hope you liked it ;) Lissa was out of character wasn't she? I felt random tonight and thought I'd add that in. The story will get better, I promise. Don't be put off by Lissa's craziness in this chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Well you all have probably lost interest in my story since I haven't updated in forever, but hopefully you still read this chapter…Sorry it took so long! I've just had a lot of homework and stress put on my lately and I haven't been able to focus on my story-writing life. Enjoy!

* * *

Victor Dashkov was here. In the Royal Court. Right now. Staring at me with bright living green eyes. Yes, I said bright living green eyes. Not to mention, bright healthy skin and hair too. I was completely lost for words. Tasha just stared at me, probably hoping that she was dreaming.  
"Rose…You didn't—did you?" She gasped. I just nodded at her. Even though it seemed impossible, her eyes widened more and her mouth created a larger 'O' shape. Victor took his hand from my shoulder and smiled at me. I refused to look at him. I knew I would be in trouble for this. Tasha still stood behind me, gob smacked.  
"Get out of here!" I hissed at him, "Before Dr. Olendski sees—oh shit." As if she heard me say her name, which she probably did, Dr. Olendski walked into the room with her clipboard and pen. At first she didn't notice Dashkov when she looked around the room, but his stupid smile and wave gave him away. She did a double take and just gawked at him. She backed out of the room and ran down the hallway.  
"Oh, great one Victor! Now we're all going to get into shit, just because you had to go and be a dumb—"  
"Be quiet little Dhampir," a velvety voice said from the doorway. "I brought him here." Adrian strode over to me from the doorway and wrapped an arm around my waist. I smiled at him non-convincingly as inside I secretly freaked out. How did he get Victor here so fast, and why did he bring him here? He gave me a reassuring squeeze, obviously realizing that I was about to have a panic attack.  
"What are we going to do?" I asked.  
"What are we going to do about what?" Adrian said.  
"What are we going to do about him!" I said, pointing a finger at the monster standing two feet from me.  
"It's rude to point Rose; didn't your mother ever teach you that?" Victor said with a smirk on his face. This was the part where Tasha decided to speak.  
"Why did you bring him here Adrian? Are you stupid?" She yelled. By now, a large amount of footsteps sounded down the hallway, getting louder as they came closer. Man, I was thankful my guardians weren't here at the moment, because we'd all be executed. I grabbed Tasha and Adrian's hands and pulled them towards the door. But there was no door. Just an endless wall of Guardians.  
"Oh shit. I look really bad right now, don't I?" I whispered to Dimitri who stood right in front of me.  
"Yes Roza, you do." And with that, he pulled my hands from the others and bound them. Other Guardians did the same to Adrian, Tasha and Victor. We were all in for it now. The guardians took us up to the headquarters and sat us down in a big conference room. We were seated and then the room filled with an awful silence, Of course, Rose Hathaway was always the first to break the silence.  
"I just want to say that he is here for a good reason." I said, making up some kind of rubbish. Adrian and I shared a glance and he nodded.  
"Rosemarie Hathaway, please give me five good reasons why we shouldn't execute you right now. First you kill the Queen, and now you bring in an escaped criminal who you probably helped escape from jail. Why should we let you live?" Dimitri and Adrian stiffened and glared at the guardian who spoke.  
"Guardian Fitzgerald, it wasn't Rose who brought him here."  
"Who was it then?" Fitzgerald said in a bored tone.  
"It was Adrian! It was all him!" Tasha shouted, hoping she would be set free.  
"Be quiet Tasha," I groaned, "You're not helping at all."  
"Is that true Miss Ozera?" She nodded. If my hands were free, I would have reached over and slapped her pretty face.  
"Yes, I did bring him here." Adrian said coolly.  
"Alright then. May I ask why?"  
"He has some valuable information that Rose and I need." Fitzgerald paused and thought about that for a minute.  
"And what would that information be, Lord Ivashkov?" Adrian refused to tell him, saying that it was private information. The whole time Victor sat in his seat with a devilish smirk that I just wanted to rip off his face. We sat in the room for a good couple of hours. The number of guardians had lessened now, and we weren't being as heavily questioned. I don't know what made it happen, but I was immediately sucked into Lissa's head. She was sobbing in her hospital room. She wasn't on her morphine anymore and her stomach felt oddly empty. She still felt high from the affects of the morphine, but other than that she was normal, except for the bandages on her arms. I searched through her head to see why she was sobbing.  
_Rose can't have brought Victor here!_ She cried silently. _We're all going to get in so much trouble. Not to mention I'm going to get heavily judged for everything I have recently done. I just want to die right now._ She stopped for a few minutes, and then the thickest bubble of darkness I had ever experienced from her exploded through her mind. She tore off across the room and down the hallway in bare feet, charging for the room we were in. It took her no time at all to reach us. The door slammed open and she glared into the room. She walked straight for the closest guardian, and I barely had enough time to register her psychotic idea and stopped her.  
"Lissa, don't do it!" I shrieked. My voice echoed through the deadly silent room. She paused and looked at me with an inhumane glint of hunger in her eyes. She strode towards me and smiled, revealing her fangs. I couldn't believe that she was seriously contemplating going strigoi to end this all. She moved closer, her thoughts revealing her real burning desire for blood. She was starving; they had to pump her stomach to get some of the drugs and gunk from her stomach. She lunged for my throat and latched onto me with her sharp fangs. Hot pain seared through me and I soon realized that I was going to die painfully. I yelped as the realization hit me. Guardians ran at her, struggling to pull her from me. I blinked slowly as the life slipped from me. Adrian was thrashing wildly in his chair, screaming offensive words at Lissa as she killed me. Dimitri was the one to save me, of course. He snatched Lissa from me and bound her wrists tightly with metal cuffs. I slumped in my chair as I passed out, seeing and feeling nothing but cold hard black.

* * *

It seemed that I had been out for an awful long time, because when I opened my eyes, the room was completely dark, and the open window showed the dark blue sky. I sat up and regretted it, because my head spun. I looked up above my head and saw a drip, and some other things with tubes connecting to me. I rested against my pillow and opened my eyes to take in the room around me. Dimitri sat in a chair across the room, Adrian sitting directly opposite from him. They were too busy glaring at each other to notice that I was awake. I shut my eyes and stretched my arms out, making a very manly grunting noise. Both of their heads flicked towards me, their faces lighting up at the site of me alive. I smiled at them and They both got up and rushed to either side of me.  
"Are you okay Rose?" I groaned.  
"Adrian, can you tell me that, honestly, do I look okay?" He shook his head. "Well then, there is your answer." He kissed my forehead and I smiled a tiny bit.  
"I'm going to the feeders, I'm starving and should have gone while you're asleep, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Love you little Dhampir." He smiled and exited the room, leaving me alone with Dimitri. He gently took my hand and smiled.  
"Roza," he breathed. "I'm so happy you're alive." His voice was thick, husky even. He had been crying. Dimitri, the big tough guardian who never cried...Except when he became Dhampir again. He kissed my cheek and held onto my hand.  
"I," I croaked, "am happy I'm alive. Is Lissa okay?" I asked. I knew I had pushed her way too far. I was the cause of her massive breakdown. I deserved to die, but she didn't deserve to become Strigoi.  
"She's alright. She is in a cell at the moment, but she's not facing anything big. She has been visited by numerous doctors and counsellors, and she's just have a mental breakdown. I calmed down the tiniest bit and looked him in the eyes. they were still warm and loving, like they were the night we spent in the cabin, the last human night we had together. As if he were visiting the same memory, he moved closer to me. If it wasn't for the pain in my head, I wouldn't have noticed that I was moving closer either. Out lips met and we kissed like we did that night. It was like a scorpion had stung him or something. He recoiled away from me.  
"I'm so sorry Rose, I, you, he...I should go. He turned on his heels but stopped when I caught his wrist.  
"Don't go. I want you here." I smiled as if to prove it.  
"You torture me sometimes Rose." He muttered something in Russian and smiled. He pulled up the chair next to my bed and sat down and talked to me about Lissa's illegitimate sibling. Five minutes later Adrian returned with food. She smell filled the room and my stomach jumped happily inside of me. I was starving. He sat the tray on the table beside me and I reached over and grabbed the first piece of food that didn't burn my hand. I pulled the doughnut over to my mouth and pretty much swallowed it whole. We spoke very little and soon enough I had finished my food.  
"Am I able to see Liss when I am stable enough to leave here?" I asked. Adrian shook his head.  
"I don't think that is such a good idea. She's very unstable right now. I went with her after she attacked you, and she almost ripped my throat out. Maybe in a few days." I pouted, and then a great idea floated into my head. I smiled and Adrian's face asked a million questions.  
"Don't you worry." Dimitri, knowing exactly what I was up to, smiled and chuckled. I would talk to Lissa through the bond. Dr. Olendski walked into the room and asked the boys top leave. Adrian kissed me and Dimitri kissed my cheek and they both left. I spent the rest of the night in a very uncomfortable half-asleep state as I tried to talk to Lissa. She wouldn't answer me at all. I had never felt so rejected before. What was happening to us?

* * *

Sorry if this chapter is short...I'm half asleep haha. Oh, and sorry if I spelt Dr. Olendski wrong, I don't have my book with me haha...It's in my room and I can't really be bothered to go get it right now. Enjoy and let me know what you think. More reviews means more motivation, which means the sooner your chapter gets delivered! See how it works? It's a cycle. One that keeps repeating itself. Well, I'm out, and read, read, review!

Love you guys!  
—Taylor—


	6. Chapter 6

Well, I've got a mean writing streak at the moment, and I've decided to put it to good use. I'm proud that I managed to get myself onto my laptop and type up this chapter lol. I got three reviews from a new fan, thanks for reviewing! I felt so special when I checked how many I had. Haha well, I'd like to get onto the story, and you guys have probably skipped this part, so let's get down to it.

Ohh, and that reminded me of a YouTube video I watched of Taylor Lautner, and he was doing this skit on SNL, and it was Christmas themed, and he was singing in a funny accent going 'Seenta Claus get down, Seenta Claus get down, Get down my chimney…Owww!' I like died laughing, because he plays gay people so well. Well, before I get too carried away, bon appetite!

I tried for the next day and a half to get a hold of Lissa, but it was like I had lost all connections with her. I was beyond freaking out by now. I kept asking Adrian and Dimitri if I could see her, but they would refuse to let me. Each time I tried to fight against them to get to see her; I'd either be compelled to stay or tackled to the ground when I attacked Dimitri. The wait was driving me insane. I paced for what seemed like the one hundredth time across my room and finally sat on my bed, throwing my hands up in frustration. I sighed and lay down.  
"What's wrong baby?" Adrian said, rubbing my stomach. Normally I would have punched him because it tickled, but today it felt oddly soothing. I thought I had fallen asleep for a minute, because everything became silent. I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I hadn't fallen asleep, but Adrian had. I got up slowly from the bed and opened the door and slipped out.  
"Where do you think you're going?" A guardian said from the door.  
"I'm just going to see Guardian Belikov, I won't be too long." Surprisingly, they both let me go. Everything weird was happening to me in the past few days. What has this world suddenly come to? I slipped around the corner and ran for the doors. The cool night air embraced me and I headed towards where Lissa was being held.

The cell was dark and cold to her. She hated the dark gloomy feel of it. Even though it was brightly lit up and all, she felt oddly dark inside of it. It was just the effects of Spirit though; she knew that. She knew that she was slowly going insane. She still questioned why she had attacked Rose three days ago. Why did she snap at Rose when she tried to save her? Lissa wanted to pound her head against the iron bars of the cell, but she had already done enough damage to herself. And besides, she had become numb to pain. It didn't do anything for her anymore. It just gave her an excuse to keep living. Near-death experiences actually did something for Lissa-she didn't have anything to live for anymore. She'd lost Rose, Christian was on the verge of leaving her again, she had a new sibling and was being pestered by Guardians, counsellors, doctors and people who wanted to kill her. It was enough to make any sane person rip their hair out. She was pulled out of her reverie as loud footsteps echoed down the hall. _This better not be Rose._ She told herself. But sure enough, Rosemarie came striding down the hall, ready to face Lissa.  
"Get away from me," Lissa hissed at the wrecked looking Rose. But she wouldn't step away at all. Instead, she moved closer, pressing against the bars. Lissa had been starved for the last few days, so Rose's blood actually smelled appealing. Lissa hated thinking those thoughts, but she couldn't help herself.  
"I've come to apologise. For everything. None of this would have happened if it weren't for me. I should have told you as soon as I had found out that you had a half sibling. Please, I'm asking you, no, I'm begging you to forgive me." I just stared at her through the bars. Minutes passed, maybe even hours. She wouldn't have noticed the difference. Lissa just sat there in silence. Rose stared at her with those big brown eyes. Lissa had missed her, she would say that much. She could forgive her, she could make an effort to become normal again, hell, she could change herself to the old Lissa. Rose was right, Lissa had changed drastically. She finally opened my mouth to accept when Dimitri appeared.  
"Rose, what are you doing down here?" Rose looked up in surprise and jumped back from the bars.  
"I was just leaving. Bye Lissa." She said curtly.  
"Rose—wait!" She stopped in surprise. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to almost kill you the other day, and I didn't mean any of the things that I had said either. I will forgive you. Please, please can you never keep anything from me ever again? I mean, I'll see it anyway, but don't hide things. We're supposed to be best friends." She nodded in agreement and said a goodbye, before she was escorted away by Dimitri.

I had gone to visit Lissa. She had forgiven me, and I was happy for that. I was pulled away by a slightly pissed off Dimitri.  
"Why did you leave the room? You were told to stay in there." He said. Once again, I was only half listening to him, more interested in pretending to check out my nails. We had reached his room and he opened the door for me.  
"Shouldn't I be going back to my room? After all, you want me to stay in there, don't you?" He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose."  
"Look Roza, I'm in no mood for your rubbish today. Just, shut up." Oh boy did I shut up. He let his wild self out and pulled me towards him. He kissed me hungrily and roughly. This had shocked me, and for a few seconds I sat motionless. He must have taken those few seconds as rejection, because he pulled away and went to get off the bed. I pulled him back towards me though and brought his mouth down to mine. The next hour went by completely unplanned. Adrian was probably worried about where I was, or maybe still asleep on my bed.  
"Mmm Roza," Dimitri sighed, content. "That was a complete replica of the night in the cabin. Hopefully this time we don't lose each other again." I smiled and breathed in his wonderful scent. I got up from the bed and pulled on my clothes. "Vy tak prekrasny Roza." I actually recognized what he said.  
"I think you are more beautiful." I smiled. He pulled on his boxers and lightly kissed me goodbye. I left for my room and quickly darted inside and to the shower.  
"Where were you?" A low, sleepy voice asked from behind me. I jumped as I caught Adrian's reflection in the mirror.  
"I went and saw Lissa."  
"How does that explain why you smell like Russian Dhampir?" I was massively busted.  
"I ran into Dimitri while I was down there and I went to his room for something to eat." I said nonchalantly. "I'm just going to have a shower; I'll be out in a minute." He sighed.  
"Yeah, yeah. When you're done we can talk about our crashing relationship." My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Was he thinking of ending what we had? I didn't blame him; after all I did just cheat on him with my ex-mentor. An incredible wave of guilt washed over me and I fell to the shower floor, trying to breathe. As realization hit me, blackness had already swallowed me up. I was doing a lot of passing out lately. I woke up in my bed with clothes on and barely any memory of what had just happened. I was half expecting Adrian to be sitting beside my bed, but instead Lissa was sitting there. Lissa. _Lissa._ Lissa was actually sitting next to me, in my room, on my bed. Lissa was actually here. I bolted up and hugged her. She stiffed but soon relaxed.  
"Rose, I'm so sorry." She whispered. I raised an eyebrow, finally proud that I had learnt how to do that, and she spoke softly and regretfully again. "Adrian wanted me to tell you that it is over."

*GASP!* OHH EMM GEE! Haha, so I bet you wanna know what Dimka said in Russian? He said "You are so beautiful Roza." Please, don't thank me for the Russian, thank Google Translator. Haha. Well, back to the gasping. *GASP!* Adrian wants to end it with Rose? How could he? How could she? Lissa is slowly going to go back to her normal character...And so are the other characters haha...I was getting a little bit carried away with them lol. Well I hope you liked that chapter, because I know I liked writing it! Oh and the middle bit, in case you haven't yet figured it out, wasn't Rose's POV obviously, it was third person's POV of Lissa and Rose apologising. Please read and review. That would make my day. Yes, it may be night where I am, but there is like, ten minutes until midnight, so I will say day. Remember the whole cycle thing in chapter 5? That still goes. In case you missed it, here's a re-cap for you:  
More reviews means more motivation, which means the sooner your chapter gets delivered! See how it works? It's a cycle. One that keeps repeating itself.  
So get reviewing!  
As always, I love you guys.  
You're my inspiration.  
-Taylor-


	7. Chapter 7

Well I'm glad you guys are enjoying this :) Hopefully I'm building a rhythm with my updating and you guys won't go long without a new chapter. Well, let's just get a few things straight. Firstly, Rose and Lissa's friendship is back on track, and Lissa won't go OC for a long time…I hope. Rose slept with Dimitri…Again. Adrian broke up with Rose, and wait for it…wait for it…wait for—VICTOR DASHKOV IS HERE! There, now that I've got that issue off of my chest, let's get this show on the road. Enjoy, Read and Review my pretties. Love you all.

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I sat there in Lissa's arm wishing I had never gone back to Dimitri's room with him. I couldn't exactly blame him for this, because I was eager to do it as well. I mentally punched myself in the face and got up.  
"Where are you going?" Lissa asked. She didn't need an explanation. The moment my thoughts reached her through the bond, she got up and followed me.  
"Liss, this will most-likely end horrible, and I'm sure you don't want to witness a fight between me and Adrian. Those fights aren't very nice. They are a thousand times worse than the fights you have with Christian. Speaking of Christian, where is he?" That was a subject I should have left untouched.  
"He hasn't spoken to me since I was submitted to the medical room thing. Look, I can't even talk right, so I'll explain it all later. For now, let's go and get Adrian." We left my room, extra guards protecting us this time, because of Lissa. It seemed to take no time to reach Adrian's room. I knock on his door nervously, not really wanting to see what opened the door. No answer came. I knocked again.  
"Piss off Rose; I don't want to talk to you." Psychic bastard. I knocked again. The same reply was called out. I knocked more times, my smile growing bigger as I annoyed him more. By about the tenth time I had knocked, he wrenched the door open. He was dressed in what I saw him in this afternoon, and smelled heavily of cigarettes and alcohol.  
"Leave Rose, now, or I'll get these guards to escort you back to your cell where you belong." I immediately cut off any smart-ass remark I was willing to come up with. He was threatening to say that I did murder Tatiana. What a playing bastard.  
"You wouldn't Adrian." I growled. His smirk assured me that he would. "Look, I just want to talk to you about this afternoon. It was all a mist—k"  
"Yeah, yeah, it was all a mistake. That's why you slept with Belikov. I get it; you sleep with people by accident. Well maybe I should try that one day. It probably won't work as an excuse, but it's worth a shot right?" I wanted to slap him, but Lissa gently tugged my arm, warning me to stay calm.  
"What I did this afternoon has no excuse for it. It was an accident, and as much as I wish it didn't happen, it did. If you'd listen to me and hear what I'm actually telling you, maybe you would reconsider all this mumbo-jumbo shit you're talking about. Now please, will you let me inside?" He tapped his chin for a while.  
"Yeah, you can come in as soon as I get my guests out." He turned and went into the house and brought out posters of half naked Moroi, rolling them up and resting them against the outside wall.  
"Very funny Adrian." I laughed sarcastically, though he seemed to find it amusing. Lissa came in behind me and sat on the end of the couch. Bring on World War III.

* * *

"I still don't understand how you could have had sex with him Rose!" Adrian screamed at Rose. They had been screaming at each other for over an hour now. I sat back and examined Rose's face as she took her turn to scream in Adrian's face.  
"Are you fucking kidding me? After all that explaining, you still don't have any idea? God you men are idiots! Now I get why my mom left my dad. You're all the same." She threw her hands up angrily in the air and got up from the couch. "I tried Ivashkov, I really did try, but you just kept on acting like the egotistical bastard that you are and played dumb. I'm going to cool off before I rip your face off—and yes, I will actually rip your face off if you push me too far—and I'm going to relax and forget any of this happened. I'll speak to you later on, I assure you that much. Come on Liss, I've had enough of this dick head." I got up and followed her outside. Adrian sat in the centre of one of his couches, his arms spread across the back and smiled smugly at me. I didn't return it, but I did shoot him an apologetic look. We left the building and went back to Rose's room.

"I'm sorry about that." She said immediately after she shut the door. "Now, what's happened about Christian and you?" I shook my head.  
"We don't matter at the moment. You've just recently left jail, been attack by me and lost Adrian; you don't need to be worrying about me." She smiled and hugged me. After a minute she started shaking, and I thought she was being silly. Until my shoulder started to feel wet. I pulled away, holding her by the shoulders. Tears trickled down her face. Rose was crying. Rosemarie Hathaway was actually crying, in front of me. I may sound happy, but I'm, actually surprised. Rose almost never cries. Except for the time Mason died. And Dimitri. But that was because people had _died_. No one was dead here. I hugged her again and patted her hair back.  
"It will be okay Rose. We'll sort it all out, I promise." She sniffled and got up. She came back with a tissue box and sat down on the couch. She patted the seat next to her. I sat beside her and we put a movie on. Three hours and a movie later we were stuffing our faces with comfort food. She would keep trying for the Christian subject, but I would refuse. I didn't even want to think about him at the moment. After the second movie finished, I looked over at Rose, and sure enough, she was snoring quietly.

* * *

I woke up on the couch, food crumbs sprayed all over me. I sat up stiffly and looked over at Lissa who had also crashed on the couch. The menu of the _Titanic _movie had replayed for probably the millionth time started to replay again. I switched off the DVD player and started cleaning up our mess. Ireturned to the living room to find Lissa awake and cleaning up as well. After half an hour my room was spotless and we were getting dressed.  
"Today, we are going to have girls only day. No Dimitri, Adrian, Christian or anything. Just you, me, Mia and Tasha." Lissa smiled at that.  
"Sounds fun." We set off to talk to the girls, but were cut short of our trip. We found them both at one of the cafés around the corner from my apartment.  
"Hey guys, what's up?" I shook my head at Tasha.  
"Nothing. Just wanted to know if you wanted to have a girl-only day today? We're having…Guy troubles." Mia gasped.  
"You and Adrian? Christian?" She rushed us both into a big hug and Tasha laughed. Now came the hard part. "What happened?" We went through it all and she hugged us again. We all sat down to a cup of coffee when Dimitri came strolling around the corner.  
"Na-ah, away Mister!" Tasha said playfully, poking Dimitri in the chest.  
"Why?" He said, lifting an eyebrow.  
"Girls only day." Lissa said.  
"Surely you guys are joking." We all shook our heads. "I just wanted to err…Discuss things with Rose. Can I at least do that?" The others went to disagree, but I got up and followed him. Lissa nodded at me in encouragement when I looked at her.  
"What?" I asked as we exited hearing range.|  
"I heard about you and Adrian. Look, if I had of known that was what would happen, I would have stopped it all the minute it began to happen. I'm so sorry Roza, it's my fault."  
"Is not. It's our fault. But it's happened, and we can't change it." We spoke a little further about it and he let me get back to my friends.  
"Hey, Rose, what happened with Victor?" Tasha asked. That brought back memories of the other day. I still felt anger a littler towards her, but screw it, I couldn't afford anger at the moment.  
"I don't know, haven't heard anything yet. Hopefully Adrian doesn't push the blame on me, after all he did bring him here." Mia looked up suddenly behind me. "What?" I turned to look and saw Adrian over at the counter flirting with the young Dhampir behind the counter.  
"Can I buy you a drink when your shift ends, Little Dhampir?" She giggled in response. Her boss came in and yelled at her, telling her to get back to work. He must have felt our gaze on him, because he turned around. The others quickly shifted their heads but I stared straight at him. He strode over and smirked.  
"Can't resist my charm Rosemarie? Maybe you shouldn't have cheated on me." That was the only thing I kind of left out when I explained out breakup to Mia and Tasha.  
"What?" They both gasped in unison.  
"You heard me right, she slept with Belikov." Tasha glared at me. "Well, I see I've stirred things up a little here, sorry about that. See you later." He gave Mia a wink and left. She slightly blushed but turned her gaze to me.  
"Really?" I nodded. Tasha abruptly left the table and stormed away.  
"Huh, wonder why she took such a bad reaction to that news." Lissa said, taking a sip of her mocha. We left our tables and said goodbye to Mia. We went back to Lissa's room, only to find Christian waiting at the door.  
"I'll ah, leave you two to it." I gave her a quick hug and left. I went back to my room and collapsed on my bed, breaking into sobs again over the same bastard. Why did I ruin ever good thing I got?

* * *

Okay, well not the greatest chapter ever, but at least you got one. That was kind of filler I guess haha. Okay, well I've got a review saying that Rose and Dimitri are mean. Well that's just summing it up. Don't worry, it's not turning into a Rose/Dimitri story, I promise. That was just a bit of a tease XD. Well, I should be off to bed, I have school tomorrow.  
Remember, read, review and repeat! Love you guys. You're my inspiration, never forget that xo

—Taylor


	8. Chapter 8

Well, here's chapter 8 ;D Is my story good? Let me know what you guys think. Review saying whatever, I don't care if its mean or bad or good or whatever, just review and give me advice or criticism. I don't mind. Just get those fingers moving! Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get to it!

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I stayed in my room for ages, with Lissa constantly asking me things through the bond. Dimitri knocked on the door a couple times, and I nearly expected him to knock it down and come in, but he respected my privacy more than that.

I had stopped my fit of tears, and sat back on my bed. Just as I closed my eyes, thinking of going to sleep, there was a small knock on my door.

"Go away Dimitri, I don't want to talk to you, gosh, how many times do I have to ignore you for you to get the hint?" I half yelled. There was no other knock, but there was a voice that I never expected to hear.  
"Rose, open up." He said. I jumped up in a daze of panic and brushed my hair. At least I looked a little better than before. I opened the door.  
"What do you want Victor?" I asked him. He just looked at me and smiled.  
"What, you're not going to invite me in?"  
"I would, but I don't trust you." I went to shut the door, but he just strode on in. I peered outside, my guards weren't anywhere.  
"Don't worry about them, I got them to leave. Now, I heard about your execution. It's still going to happen isn't it? It has just been put off for a while. I expect that they'll put you back in your cell when all the mayhem has stopped, and when I'm back in my cell." I didn't say anything. He just chuckled.  
"Still stubborn, I see. Well, maybe this will change your attitude a little. I can help you with finding the illegitimate child. They may just be able to stop your execution as well." I felt my mouth drop open. I quickly shut it and rolled my eyes.  
"And you want to help me why?" He sat on my couch and made himself comfortable while I stood there at the door.  
"Let's just say that I owe you more than saving Belikov. After all, I have done pretty bad things to Lissa and you. I'm willing to help you, but if you don't want my help, that's perfectly fine." I just stared at him.  
"Do you want my help or not? I can go if you like." I scrambled for an answer.  
"You can stay." Seriously, that was the best I could think of? "How can you help us find this sibling? Where are they?" He sighed.  
"Well, let's get down to business. First of all, they are already here in the Court." My eyes widened.  
"How do you know that? Who are they?" I could have let the questions flood him, but I decided not to.  
"I don't know who they are currently, but I do know that it is someone that you know. A classmate from St. Vladimir's." I stood there for a few more minutes and decided to sit down.

He told me a little more about this sibling. So far, it was summed down to this: they were male and Moroi. Well, I know a lot of male Moroi, so that's not a great help. He made up some lame excuse about how he had to go after that, and quietly left my room.

I sat down and rummaged through my mind, thinking of Moroi that I knew that looked like Lissa. I could only come up with one, but surely it wouldn't be someone she's dated. Could it be? No, I mentally slapped myself. It couldn't possibly be _him_ could it? Surely his mom wasn't bad enough to do that. But yet again, maybe that was why she was always so kind to Lissa when she came to the Academy. _Blasphemy!_ I screamed at myself. I got up and made myself look decent. I was going to talk to him. He did come to the Court after graduation, I was sure of it. I just had to figure out where he was first.

Rose was going to find him. Did she really think that Aaron was my brother. Half brother, really? Yeah we had similar looks, but what's that supposed to mean? She must be crazy. I thought about going after her but decided not to.

I was already tired enough from the fight Christian and I had. Instead I left for the feeders. A little blood was just what I needed to get all this craziness from my mind. I reached the feeders, and who should I run into but Adrian.  
"Hello Lissa," he said kindly.  
"Adrian," I nodded. He cocked an eyebrow.  
"Just because I'm not with Rose, it doesn't mean you have to act so formal or whatever."  
"I'm not going to argue with you. And no, I'm not acting like that at all. I'm just tired because I've had fights of my own. You know, it was mean of you to go and flirt with people in front of Rose. She's broken over the end of your relationship.  
"And you don't think I'm broken? What gave her the right to cheat on me with Belikov?" He raised his voice. The few people in the room glanced at us.  
"If you two could actually talk it out calmly, maybe you'd forgive each other and—"  
"No Lissa, there is no chance of that ever happening, so forget it. I have to go now." He stalked out of the room. I didn't feel like feeding now. I turned and left the building. On the way back to my room I bumped into Christian. He kept walking but I stopped.  
"Hey," I said, making a weak effort to talk to him. He stopped and turned around. Pain and sadness flickered across his face.  
"Hi." I walked over to him.  
"Look, I'm sorry about what happened." We both said at the exact same time. A smile played on his lips. I hugged him as tight as I could.  
"I love you Lissa, and I know you know that I didn't mean anything that I said." He kissed me lightly on the lips and pulled away. We ended up going back to my room and curling up on the couch, watching a movie together.

I wandered through the library, hoping to find Aaron. I couldn't see him anywhere. I didn't really have any idea where he could be, but I would find him.

As I exited the library I saw Lissa and Christian kissing. Well it was good to see that someone was happy. I continued the walk back to my room.

A light sheet of rain fell down on the Court as I went inside my building and up to my floor. I turned the corner and walked straight into a wall. Well a living wall. I didn't have to look up to see who it was.

"Dimitri, just leave me alone." I pulled away from him, but he grabbed my wrists.  
"Hey!" One of my guards yelled, I actually knew this one's name. "She said to leave her alone Belikov, so do it." Dimitri looked up at Sanders.  
"We'll talk later Rose." He stalked off around the corner.  
"Thanks Dave." I went into my room and shut the door. I walked into my bathroom and turned the shower on. Hot water to relax me was just what I needed.

Once the water ran cold I got out and into a towel. Of course there had to be another knock on my door. What was with all the door knocking in awkward situations today?

"Coming, hang on a moment!" I called. I swiftly dried and got dressed. I opened the door to none other than the Mr. Adrian Ivashkov.

"Well, well, didn't expect to see you here so soon. What brings you to my home today?" I said in a snarky attitude.  
"Cut the attitude Rose, I came to talk to you." Thanks Lissa, I thought sourly in my mind.  
"Sit down." I said pointing awkwardly to the couch. He took a seat on the far side from me and I took the place on the far end opposite from him.  
"I just wanted to apologize, but first, I owe you an explanation. Do you want to know how I found out?" I nodded. "You'll think this is utterly ridiculous, and it is. I had suspicions of you and Dimitri and got Victor to do me a favor. He gave me this little device, a microscopic microphone. I managed to slip it into your jacket when I saw you. It was wrong of me to do that. I was invading your privacy, but I had to know. I am really sorry Rose. It is partially my fault as well."

I thought about getting angry at him, but he was one hundred percent honest. I could tell that much.

"Look, I'm sorry as well. I didn't even plan on going and doing…that with Dimitri. I love you and you deserve more than that. I felt horrible when it happened, and I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it. I will admit that I'm not happy that you spied on me, but I can understand why you did it."

By now we had moved closer to each other. He grabbed my hands and held them firmly in his.

"I know it seems ridiculous, and I don't care if you want to be with Dimitri, but it's worth a shot. Would you like to be my girlfriend again?" I was about to answer when suddenly the door was busted open and before I had time to jump up and fight off the intruder, a pair of strong hands gripped my arms and held them firmly behind my back, while pulling me up to my feet. I tilted my neck slightly and caught the scent of aftershave and cursed.

"What do you want, Dimitri?"

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Well, I have re-done the ending in this chapter, because the original was messed up. I have the 9th chapter done so that will go up after I post this one. :D  
-Taylor


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry I haven't updated in a while…I swear I have had the biggest writer's block in my life! It's seriously been over 3 or 4 months since I last updated the story. So I though that since it's school holidays for me, I would write some more of the story. This chapter is filler, because I don't want to lose readers…And I need to update anyways. So enjoy this chapter and review or something. Peace!

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I would have struggled against him, but it was no use. Dimitri has always been stronger than me. I didn't exactly give up with trying to escape, but I didn't exactly _try_ to escape either. My arms began to hurt and I grumbled, only earning a slight tug on my arms. A few minutes later we arrived in the court room where my first trial was held. I had a sudden urge to ask why I was here, but instead I kept my mouth shut.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, you have been sentenced to death, but before we carry out your sentence, we would like to take a look at some newly found evidence." The judge said. I didn't know this judge; he wasn't the same as my last one.

As people finished filing in and taking their seats, the trial began.

"There is evidence that protruded Miss Hathaway's crime. This evidence leads to an unknown person, who we will soon uncover. This evidence relates to the Queens death too, which means that Rosemarie was involved in a partner crime, or as she stated previously, she was framed.  
Now to begin the trial, the first piece of evidence found is a blank stake with newer fingerprints on it. This was found under the floorboards in Queen Tatiana's room two days ago. There were traces of Tatiana's blood on it, which could mean that the stake found was cleaned off, and Rosemarie's stake was put in place, buried deep in the chest of the beloved Queen."

A few people gasped, and I looked shocked. The judge then turned his attention to me.

"Rose, we ask for your complete honesty. We need you to speak the truth. Did you participate with another person in the killing of Tatiana Ivashkov?" I shook my head.  
"No, as a matter of fact, I didn't participate in the killing of Queen Ivashkov at all. As much as you would like to blame me so we can get on with the election of a new Queen or King, I, Rosemarie Hathaway, did not kill Queen Tatiana Ivashkov." This earned a loud uproar from the crowed.

"She's a liar! Of course she killed the Queen; her fingerprints are all over the evidence!" A Badica princess by the looks of it yelled out. The judge banged his gavel and hushed the courtroom.

"Hold on a minute! There is more evidence to uncover. I mentioned there were fingerprints on this newer piece of evidence. We will be putting the court through lockdown and making everyone go through a fingerprinting process which shouldn't take any longer than a day. No one has fled the court since the killer has struck, which means the murderer has to be in this room." People again gasped in shock and looked around at other people in the room. I kept a small grin to myself as we moved one step closer to finding who really killed Tatiana.

I silenced the room by speaking up. "I'd just like to make something clear, I know Tatiana and I weren't exactly BFF's, but I'm dating her favorite great nephew, so why in the world would I kill her? I mean, I know there are a lot of reasons as to why I want to kill her, an example being the Dhampir graduation law, but seriously, why would I kill her? Ask anyone who knows me, I'm capable of killing Strigoi, but I'm not capable of cold-blooded murder." Once again, an uproar of yells and protests filled the court room and I stood up. The court room was soon emptied and organized into lines so they could begin being fingerprinted. There were at least twenty stalls with guardians posted at each one, scanning people's fingers to see if they matched the ones on the stake. I was next in line to have my fingers scanned. I strode up to the guardian, not worried at all and let him scan my fingers. He spoke a quick message into a walkie-talkie, telling someone, probably Hans, that I wasn't the second killer.

I walked past people who were giving me looks, and I just walked with a straight back and a smug smile and went to find Lissa. I knocked on her door, and it opened straight away.  
"Hey Rose…I have something you're really gonna want to know."  
"What? Did you hear whose fingerprints were on the new stake?"  
"No, something that would be as equally good as that."  
"What is it?"  
"I know who my secret sibling is, and it's definitely not a guy."

I'm guessing the look on my face was made up of pure shock.  
"What? Who is it?"  
"You're never going to believe it…But my sibling is Jill Mastrano."  
"What...How? That's impossible!"  
"Apparently it's not. I had a call from…Victor Dashkov a few days ago…It's been a damn pain to keep it from you for so long!"  
"How did he know? He's full of shi–"  
"Hold up a minute. He had a lot of evidence. He went through a lot of trouble to find out the information."  
"And you believe him." It was more a statement than a question.  
"Yes, Rose, I do believe him." I nodded my head slightly.  
"Okay then, how did he find out Jill is your half sister?"  
"He found Ms. Karp. She is related to Jill…And my dad had an affair with Emily, Jill's mother." My head was spinning, all this was so new and confusing and a little scary.

Woah, what?

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Okey dokey, well this chapter wasn't very long, but at least I updated the story. I have just started reading Last Sacrifice, but I know who the half sibling is and stuff. I think Tasha killed the queen, but I don't know if that's right because I haven't finished reading it...Haha. I'm aiming on getting this story finished pretty soon, so there won't be many more chapters, but I've already started writing the tenth chapter, and somewhere between there and the end of the story there's gonna be a big surprise. I think you will all like it. Well, happy late Christmas and I hope y'all enjoy this New Year. I'll update soon! Taylor.


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